Railway crossing



Sept 22,1953 R. F. LANIER 2,652,981

RAILWAY CROSSING Filed F b. 23, 1951 ff ggz -,4

A JJ fz 13 I,

INVENT OR )20k/*ff Lanier /8 BY www, 19011;/ www ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED S'IfiiTIES `r Tl GFSFI'CE RAILWAY CR'SSINGV.

Robert F. Lanier, LanettfiAlai.-

Application-February 23, 1951'; SerialNo; 2122351 4 Glaimsi v (Cl.` 23R-1&9) t

The" present invention relates Sto: railway crossv` ingsiat roadways or paved `highways 'andlemploysindividual preiabricated' elementsH 'orf blocks.. which' are removablyusupported each -oni `a singleil tieswith their-.upper surfaces flushl with.. each'V A 5 otherfand `the roadway, as `well yas with Ythe `wheel S engaging surfaces Aofthezzrails.V

Heretofore, crossings have been constructed using# removable concrete' slabsfin.- which the... slabs depend'l on support by spanning! from .onecrosstie to the: next or by spanning.v several. consecutivecrossties I Thesetypes of slabs orblocks areA not satisfactory as -structuralelements becausefthe wave motion inthe railroad-tracks uor rails, caused lby the passingof trains aslwelll as traic; cracks oribreaksthe concrete,v which has veryl little elastioityav- Another disadvantageV in sucha slabisthat when itbe'comesnecessary.to repair a tier orv ai small portion-Iof-track ory cross-l ing, a relatively large portionof the crossing lmust be removed in order that repairs may be made. This notI only'makes'- repairs more expensive, but it also increases the time and other maintenance costsf The present invention' eliminatesrthe foregoing 25 objectionsby providing individual blocks or ele-v ments for each tie, i. e., with each tie, a block-'or element-is disposed between therrail'sof the track anda blockis positioned onthe outside .oieach rail of the track, all'lieing supportedin alignment 30 directlyfvon the same tie.

Itlis one ofthe primary objects of this inventionfto provide a prefabricated concrete. slab onA blckwhich actsas a structural yelement and-willv withstand .the wave motion of the track-causedi bypassingV trains and trac and thus reduce, crackingandbreaking to a minimum.

A further object of'thi's invention is to provide` a prefabribatecl-concretefslab forfuse in railway crossings in which the simplicitynof design makes 40 it economically feasible forgeneral usei onwall types of vrailway crossings.

A still further object of this invention is to provide? a railway crossing with prefabricated concrete slabs cast or molded with a tie receiving channel, groove or recess, one block being asso- 4P,ciated with one tie only, thus increasing the load capacity of the crossing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a railway crossing with prefabricated blocks individually removable from the crossties which they overlie, thus decreasing the cost of maintenance of the crossing.

These and other objects of the invention will appear more fully from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a railway 2: crossingincorporating the improved prefabricated bloeks or elements FigureZ represents a crosssection of a double track-railway;` showing-the precast blocks overlyingftheicrosstiesi andy also showing a precast' block betweenfthe pairsof rails in a double trackline;

Fi'gulfef is an enlarged perspective View of the improved prefabricated block which overliesl that portion ofthe tie 'on the outside'of saidlrails, `and Figure 4' 'is' an enlarged perspective view of the improved prefabricat'ed block used` to overlie the tie-f'between the rails.1

ReferringtoFigure' 1`of` the drawings, the railspecification.'v l Means-1 are also' provided toV take careA ofthe expansion and;Y contraction of -the precast concrete blocks-between themselves; the" adjacent' road I4; and the rails or track Il.

Preferably, eachprecast 'concreteblock I3; as l shown; inFigur'es-and 4,- is `substantially rectan-y gularl in'- shape,v having la longitudinal channel,

grooveiior lrecess-IS-"located on theunderside thereof for direct reception oa crosstie I2; The bridge orV web'YI-, defined by thechannel I5, of the-fblock-ul i's substantially'eq-ual-in thickness to thefheightof the rail II in order that-the top orupperW surface IIlof ftheconcrete slab will be iiush' with thetop orf-Wheel engaging surface off thevrail andthe adjacent roadwayIIi-when aislab isin place.' -The depending flanges I8 of'the" bloekfllSimay belief any length. However; in the preferred form shown in thea'ccompanying drawings, said iianges are of such length that they depend downwardly approximately one-half the height of the tie I2. The channel, groove or recess I5 is of a size to closely hug the tie on which it is disposed, as shown, and enables the blocks to be positioned accurately and rmly on the crosstie, eliminating objectionable lateral movement. By providing the channel with parallel vertical side walls I9 and the horizontal top wall 20 at the under side of the connecting web I6, contiguous with the upper portion of the tie, the block member I3 will take a substantial compression load and objectionable shear and torsional loads will be substantially eliminated. The properties of concrete make it excellent in concrete 3 compression, but it is of little use in shear or torsion.

Each block I3, as shown in Figure 4, which is disposed between the rails II, has the web I6 at each end molded or cut away, as shown at 2I, so as to provide an enlargement or transverse recess 2l which, as shown in Figure 2, will receive the rail anchors, spikes, tie plates and the like without contacting the same. The cut away portion 2I is suitably inclined, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, and extends throughout the transverse dimension of the web and vertical side walls I9. As shown in Figure 3, only one such recess is needed for the block which overlies the portion of the tie outside of the rails, whereas a recess 2| is needed on both ends of the block, as shown in Figure 4, which overlies the portion of the tie between the rails.

Casting or molding of the blocks I3 is relatively inexpensive because of the simplicity of the design of the mold. However, it is advisable when molding said blocks to provide each block with a standard type of concrete reinforcement. In the preferred form of the invention, the blocks are reinforced by steel rods 22.

Each prefabricated block I3 is provided with a plurality of vertically spaced openings or holes 23 along the longitudinal axis thereof. The openings 23 are provided for the reception of lag screws 24, which anchor the block to the tie, as shown in Figure 2. It is, of course, evident that the head of the lag screw 24 must lie flush or be located below the surface of the block I3.

From the above description the manner in which the prefabricated block or slab I3 is employed is now quite apparent. Essentially, each crosstie I2 directly supports three aligned precast blocks, said tie being disposed in the channel, groove or recess I5 of the blocks. One block overlies the portion of the tie between the rails, while the other two blocks are supported by that portion of the tie which is outside of the rails and adjacent to the road or highway Irl. The blocks are placed on the ties and then anchored by means of the lag screws 24. A mastic filler 25 or the like is then inserted between adjacent blocks, between the blocks and the road, and between the blocks and the rails. The filler takes care of any expansion or contraction of the concrete slabs and also provides waterproong between the joints.

Figure 2 discloses a modied form of the railway crossing where there are double tracks. The crossing in this instance is provided with a permanently aixed concrete or asphalt slab 26 in the space between the crossties of the two track sections. Then, just as in the single track crossings, the removable blocks or slabs I3 are anchored to the ties and the ller 25 is used between the joints.

The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose of description and not limitation, the scope of the invention being dened by the claims.

I claim:

1. A highway crossing for railways comprising separate prefabricated elements, a group of said elements being supported by an individual railway cross-tie, a plurality of said groups being positioned adjacent each other with elements thereof disposed between the rails of the tracks and along the outside of the same, each of said elements being subject only to the movement of the tie on which it is supported.

2. A highway crossing for railways comprising a plurality of separate prefabricated elements, a group of said elements being supported by an individual railWay'cross-tie, each element having a recess to receive at least the upper portion of the tie, a plurality of said groups being positioned adjacent each other with elements thereof disposed between the rails of the tracks and along the outside of the same, each of said elements being subject only to the movement of the tie on which it is supported.

3. A crossing for railways comprising a plurality of separate prefabricated elements, a group of said elements being supported by an individual railway cross-tie, each element having a recess to receive at least the upper portion of the tie, a plurality of said groups being positioned substantially contiguous each to the other and to the heads of the rails of the railway.

4. A crossing according to claim 3 wherein said elements are disposed between the rails of the tracks and along the outside of the same, each of the elements being subject only to the movement of the tie on which it is supported.

ROBERT F. LANIER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 123,219 Beidler Jan. 30, 1872 511,304 Mapel Dec. 19, 1893 1,130,997 Newhall Mar. 9, 1915 1,246,907 Godwin Nov. 20, 1917 1,568,677 McCanless Jan. 5, 1926 1,849,048 Crampton Mar. 8, 1932 1,881,660 Keller, Jr Oct. 11, 1932 2,017,336 Alexander Oct. 15, 1935 2,124,247 Fey July 19, 1938 2,174,035 Henderson Sept. 26, 1939 2,256,025 Hoak Sept. 16, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 'Date 120,742 Switzerland Sept. l, 1927 

